In Your Shoes
by SingsongRandom
Summary: Avaric challenges Elphaba and Galinda to a bet...of sorts.
1. Deal

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked.**

**Author's Note: I wrote this story a while ago but I reread it and was unhappy with it, so I am rewriting it. Please review. Hope you enjoy!**

In Your Shoes

"What's the matter with you two?" Avaric asked.

Neither Galinda nor Elphaba said anything.

The three Shiz University students were gathered underneath the gazebo, with Galinda and Elphaba facing opposite each other.

Avaric sighed. "All I know is, I was here first, and then you two come storming in. What's going on with you?"

Elphaba turned to him. "Miss Galinda and I aren't speaking to each other."

_Obviously,_thought Avaric. "Well why not?" he asked aloud. After a few moments of silence that followed, Galinda answered, "We got into an argument."

Avaric rolled his eyes. "This is about something incredibly insignificant, isn't it?"

Elphaba groaned. "Mind your own business, Avaric."

Avaric sighed as he placed a knee upon the gazebo bench. "What was it about?" he asked, seeming genuinely curious.

Galinda delicately seated herself as she opened her purse, removed a small compact mirror, and began to powder her face. "To put it simply," she explained, "We had…a differentiation of opinionations."

"That's usually how arguments start," Avaric pointed out.

Elphaba sighed. "Well, there was more to it than that."

Avaric thought for a minute. A sly grin slowly crept across his face. "I bet you two couldn't last a week as each other."

Galinda raised her eyebrows and turned to look at him. "What are you talking about?"

Avaric started out of the gazebo. "I'd bet that Elphaba, you couldn't last a week doing everything Galinda does, and Galinda, you couldn't last a week doing everything that Elphaba does."

Galinda laughed. "I sure can!" She dropped her compact back into her little peach purse and raised her hands to act out a scene. "With Elphie, it's all," – she used a nasally voice – "'study for our exam, Galinda!' and 'I wish I was as super terrifically fantastified as Miss Galinda', and… 'I'm feeling especially green this afternoon. Green, green, green…'"

Elphaba removed her messenger bag and tossed it onto the bench. "Pardon me, _Miss Galinda_," she hissed, her eyes narrowed, "but clearly you're mistaken. My life is much more complicated than you appear to think. If anybody's life is effortless," she added, "it's yours."

Melodramatically, Galinda gasped and looked taken aback – taking on an expression she referred to as her 'surprised face' – and asked, "What in Oz's name do you mean by that?"

Avaric was rather enjoying the banter and watched as they continued.

Elphaba mimicked Galinda in a squeaky tone, "Ooh, Fiyero! Let's go to a party! Let's talk about how pretty I am! Toss toss toss toss toss toss TOSS!" She added a drawn-out, overdone giggle.

Crossing his arms over his chest, an amused Avaric said, "So is it a bet?"

A few moments passed and Elphaba looked at him suspiciously. "Depends," she said. "It's a three-way bet. What do I get if I win?"

"Name your price," Avaric said, indicating the same thing to Galinda with a nod. Elphaba considered her options carefully – so did Galinda. Finally, Galinda piped up with, "Ooh, ooh, I've got it! If I win, then _Elphie_, you have to come with me and Miss Pfannee and Miss ShenShen on our girls day out this weekend. _Avaric_, you have to stop being such a bad influence on Fifi."

"Fifi?" Avaric asked. "You mean Fiyero."

Galinda nodded.

Avaric shrugged but accepted her terms. Then he turned to the other girl. "And you, _Elphie_?"

Elphaba smiled. She knew exactly what she wanted from Avaric. "If I win, you and your spiteful cronies have to stop ridiculing me. As for you, Galinda, you have to stop bothering me when I'm trying to read or study – for good! Got it?"

Galinda made a face, but nodded, and Avaric understood. Then he said, "Okay, now it's my turn. If I win, Elphaba, you have to do my homework for the next semester and Galinda, you have to pretend to be my girlfriend whenever I want."

The three exchanged confident glances, but on the inside each was the slightest bit doubtful. Finally, they shook hands. "Deal."


	2. Giggles and Tricks

"We'll start tomorrow," Elphaba said when she and her roommate returned to their dorm. Galinda plopped down on her bed. "Ooh, this is going to be so hard," she said in a playfully sarcastic tone. "All I have to do is read!" Then, after a few moments, her expression turned to one of confusion. "Oh no," she realized. "All I have to do is read…"

Elphaba sighed. "Well, as you," she said in a more serious manner, "All I have to do is toss my hair and flirt with every guy I see."

Galinda pouted. _This is going to be a long week._

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

**The Next Day…**

Galinda woke up bright and early. "Good morni –" she started to say, and then immediately remembered the bet. _What would Elphie do?_ she asked herself. She lied back down on her bed, contemplating the best way to impersonate Elphaba. She crossed her arms and slowly sat up with a solemn look on her face. "What a dreary morning," Galinda said in a monotone, looking out at the sunny day outside.

_I don't wake up saying 'what a dreary day,' _Elphaba thought.

_I didn't say dreary day, I said dreary morning, Elphie._ Galinda thought back.

Elphaba's eyes widened. "Did you just –" A stoic expression remained on Galinda's face, and Elphaba decided to ignore the odd occurrence, as she had gotten used to most of the unusual things that happened.

Elphaba bit her lip. _Think like Galinda. _"Good morning Glindy!" she giggled obnoxiously. "I can call you Glindy, right? And you can call me Elphaba!" She tossed a pillow at her roommate, still laughing, and practically leaped out of bed.

They found that they had a dilemma when they began to get ready for class. "Do we have to dress like each other too?" Galinda whispered, as though it made a difference.

Elphaba sighed. "Avaric didn't say. I guess we should, otherwise he'll just say that he wins."

Elphaba reluctantly wore a sparkly turquoise dress and Galinda picked out a black frock, as there was not much diversity in Elphaba's closet. _Black is this year's pink_, Galinda thought, trying to convince herself that the frock wasn't all that bad.

As soon as they reached the history classroom, Galinda and Elphaba found themselves the main attraction of the day's classes. Most students were confused by the sudden witch switch.

In the middle of the professor's lesson, Elphaba raised her hand. "Doctor Dillamond?" she asked. "What kind of clothes do they wear in Winkie Country? Is it like, sparkly?" She giggled uncontrollably once again.

There was a short pause. "What?" asked the Goat.

Galinda narrowed her eyes. Then Elphaba waved to Fiyero from across the room. "Hi Fifi!" she called in a loud squeak.

Galinda cleared her throat. She decided it was her turn. Loudly, she announced, "My name is Elphaba Thropp and I'm just the smartest person in all of Shiz. Oh, yeah, and I'm green."

Avaric laughed quietly to himself.

Elphaba rose and stood up on her chair. "Doctor Dillamond, I'm going to interrupt your class so you can pronounce my name right, okay?"

"But you've already interrupted my class –"

Galinda stood as well, climbing onto the table. "I'm going to stand up for Animal rights!"

By this time Avaric couldn't contain his laughter, and Doctor Dillamond reprimanded the two girls. "Please sit down! Miss Elphaba, I am very surprised at you. Now both of you, please take a seat."

Fiyero raised his eyebrows. _What in Oz's name are they doing?_ he thought. He looked at Avaric. "Do you have something to do with this?" He whispered. But Avaric couldn't answer, he was still laughing hysterically.

Elphaba approached the blackboard. "I have an idea! Let's all forget about our homework!" She took an eraser and began attacking the board with it.

Galinda felt her cheeks grow hot. Then she flipped to a page in the textbook. "Let's all study and do nothing else!" She ran to the front of the room and held her textbook up for all the students to see.

The other students looked on in confusion. Elphaba pranced around the room. "Ball gown! Ball gown!"

Quickly trying to think of a way to retaliate, Galinda began to give a lecture about Animal rights.

"Girls! Girls, please sit down!" Doctor Dillamond exclaimed. Neither of the two paid attention to him. The rest of the class had erupted in laughter, but soon enough the bell rang, and most of the students rushed out of the classroom.

"What was that?" was the first thing out of Fiyero's mouth when he and Avaric reached their dorm room. "What is going on with Galinda and Elphaba?"

Avaric smirked. "I have no idea," he said sarcastically.

"Come on, Avaric."

Avaric just shook his head. "You can ask them yourself, I think they're outside."


	3. Thoroughly Confused

"What are you doing?" Fiyero asked the two, thoroughly confused.

Elphaba giggled and batted her eyelashes. "What are you talking about, Fifi?"

"Once again, you're oblivious to everything that goes on here, Tiggular," said Galinda.

_Have I entered some sort of parallel universe? _He thought. "Why are you acting like each other?" he wanted to know. "Am I just having some kind of nutty dream?" He wondered aloud. Everyone else seemed to be acting normal, he noticed. It was just these two.

It was always these two, he realized, with a sigh. It was these two whether it was day or night. Whether one was playing with his heart and the other was pretending he didn't exist. It was always these two, he mused to himself.

"Oh Fifi, dearest, you are just too handsome!" Elphaba giggled again. The sound of her own voice made Elphaba almost gag, but she wanted more than anything to win the bet. Maybe then, she thought, once and for all, Avaric and his friends would stop teasing her about her green skin. Maybe then, Galinda would stop bothering her whenever she was trying to study for an exam. Maybe then, things would be different…

"What?" Fiyero interrupted her thoughts, and she noticed he looked completely baffled.

Fiyero's brows furrowed. "Did Avaric put you up to this?" he asked.

"Look who's catching on," said Galinda, trying to work sarcasm into her tone. "It's a bet, Fif – uh, Tiggular. If Elphinda here can keep up the little act, she wins. If not, I win. And if neither of us can hold out long enough, then Avaric wins. Like that'll happen," she added quickly.

Fiyero himself couldn't suppress a laugh. "You are joking, right? I mean, come on, you can't be serious! You two could never hold out a week acting like each other! I'm sorry ladies, but I'm with Avaric on this one."

Elphaba's eyes grew wide. He certainly didn't understand how much this meant to her. It would mean less mocking, less…Galindafication. "Now listen, you," she said, her emerald fingers forming a fist, but a glance from Galinda reminded her of the bet and kept her from finishing her sentence. She sighed. "I don't know about Miss Galinda, but _I _certainly am capable of holding my own this entire week, _dearest_," she emphasized through gritted teeth. "And I would appreciate if you didn't try and…_interruptify_ that."

_She's picking up on my Galindaisms! _thought Galinda worriedly. _She's behaving more and more like me…I've got to step it up!_

"Yeah, well, I've got to get back to the room and read like the green that I am," she said. "Reading improves your mind and stuff, you know." And with that last comment, she turned on her heel and walked away.

"That was rather…odd," Fiyero remarked. Then he turned to Elphaba. "Haven't you got somewhere to be?" he asked. She nodded and tossed her hair. "I most certainly do, _Fifi._" She also turned to leave, but before she was out of earshot he called to her, "Does this mean I get to call you Elphie now?"


	4. Jerk of All Trades

"Miss Galinda!"

_Oh, Sweet Oz._

She was close to her dorm when she heard Boq call her name. "Miss Galinda," he said, panting when he arrived at her side, clearly exhausted from running up multiple flights of stairs. "What happened in class this morning? You weren't behaving like your perfectly perfect self."

She opened her mouth to explain what was going on, then closed it again. She raised her eyebrows, her lips gently forming a grin.

That was when a thought struck Galinda.

"Boq, come here." She took his hand and (while he gasped and rambled on about how "this was their moment") pulled him into an empty, narrow corridor.

"Listen, Boq," she said, "Elphaba, Avaric, and I have made a bet. Elphie and I have to act like each other for a whole week. Whoever caves first, loses." She paused and thought for a moment, and then started to tousle his curly hair, giggled a bit. "You know, winning this bet would mean a whole lot to me - _and you can help me_!"

He was already melting. "Anything for you, Miss Galinda."

She grinned. "Good. Here's what I need you to do."

* * *

Fiyero pushed open the door to his room and looked at Avaric. "They should call you the jerk of all trades."

Avaric grinned. "Why's that?"

"It seems like you can trick anyone into anything. Elphaba and Galinda told me about your little bet." He dropped his bag onto his bed. "Well played, my friend."

Avaric bowed his head. "Thank you. Yeah, I'm kind of a genius if I do say so myself."

Fiyero merely scoffed, half-amused, but said nothing more.

That was when a thought struck Avaric.

"Wanna help me?"

Fiyero craned his neck to look at him. "How?"

"Simple. _Sabotage_."

He nodded slowly, contemplating this. "I like it. All right, I'm in."


End file.
